The Octo Wave
Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 6:33 pm
A few weeks ago, I was dreaming about Factorio (don't we all?), and I dreamt I had a rail system running like a wave undulating under and over round city blocks. Of course you can't have an actual round city block big enough to do anything, the closest you can come is an octagon. So I sat down and started working on... The Octo Wave.
Do not try this at home! It is silly, impractical, and inefficient... but fun
I started with the base octagon and for some unknown reason in a RHD rail system, the outside rails run counter-clockwise. There are two horizontal and two vertical loading/unloading lines that turn left into the octagon, and then turn left to exit; chain signals are used to prevent trains from blocking the entrance/exit lines, and train limits are used to ensure there is room to park for any train that heads into the octo. On the west side, there is a tiny siding for the fuel train to deliver fuel to this octo; on the east is a siding for my personal transport.
I then added the wave: a second lane running west to east under the octo, and east to west over the octo, as well as running north to south on the west side, and south to north on the east side. I tucked in connectors to allow trains to enter the octo from the wave, and exit back on to the wave. An empty octo looks like this:
Next for another unknown reason, rather than stacking the octos in a straight line, I offset them, so that they touch on the diagonal corners. The intersections are a nightmare interesting 
So instead of smaller diamonds in the corners between octos, I have larger rectangles in between. It is a blast watching my trains navigate the waves! They have to up, down, over, and around, just to get to the octo next door: I think I have finally added enough signals to avoid deadlock, but this is the fourth time I have told myself, there that should fix it.
Anyway, here is my mini octo wave after about 200 rocket launches. Yes, the Factory Must Grow, and no, really, you do not want the BP... enjoy!
Do not try this at home! It is silly, impractical, and inefficient... but fun
I started with the base octagon and for some unknown reason in a RHD rail system, the outside rails run counter-clockwise. There are two horizontal and two vertical loading/unloading lines that turn left into the octagon, and then turn left to exit; chain signals are used to prevent trains from blocking the entrance/exit lines, and train limits are used to ensure there is room to park for any train that heads into the octo. On the west side, there is a tiny siding for the fuel train to deliver fuel to this octo; on the east is a siding for my personal transport.
I then added the wave: a second lane running west to east under the octo, and east to west over the octo, as well as running north to south on the west side, and south to north on the east side. I tucked in connectors to allow trains to enter the octo from the wave, and exit back on to the wave. An empty octo looks like this:
- Wave octo detail.png (5.63 MiB) Viewed 1551 times
So instead of smaller diamonds in the corners between octos, I have larger rectangles in between. It is a blast watching my trains navigate the waves! They have to up, down, over, and around, just to get to the octo next door: I think I have finally added enough signals to avoid deadlock, but this is the fourth time I have told myself, there that should fix it. Anyway, here is my mini octo wave after about 200 rocket launches. Yes, the Factory Must Grow, and no, really, you do not want the BP... enjoy!
- Wave octo just for fun.png (461.92 KiB) Viewed 1551 times